In a search for the best states to retire, MoneyRates.com's Richard Barrington spent weeks analyzing what he says are the seven key factors seniors should consider:

Cost of living, property taxes, violent crime rates, climate, life expectancy for seniors, recent population growth in the senior demographic and unemployment.

"Retirees and young people have very different concerns," Barrington told Business Insider. "Crime's a good example. Older folks are especially vulnerable to crime and they tend to worry about it more."